DENVER  Used to be, you could see cows out there. When the Colorado Springs Sky Sox first returned to the Pacific Coast League with a spiffy new ballpark -- miles and miles east of town, way out in the middle of nowhere -- cattle grazed on a slope just beyond the outfield fence.

“There weren’t cows out there when I pitched there,” said Tyson Ross. “Just a lot of home-run balls.”

So, yes, this will not be Ross’ first experience on a mound a Mile High. Though new to the Padres and the National League, the right-handed pitcher feels well-versed in the travails of high-altitude pitching, what with Colorado Spring being 6,000 feet above sea level.

Ross, traded to the Padres from Oakland and impressive enough in spring training to win the fifth starting job, makes his NL debut on Saturday against the Colorado Rockies. Six-foot-six, 230 pounds, Ross is what he looks like, a pitcher most dependent on the fastball and slider. Even the hardest of sliders don’t slide as much at altitude, of course.

“You’ve really got to get on top and drive this thing, because the air’s not gonna help you a bit,” said Ross. “I’ve noticed in a bullpen before a start, my slider isn’t as tight. But by the time the game comes, though, I’ve been able to make the adjustment.”

Ever since he was dealt to the Padres from Oakland in mid-November, Ross has been in adjustment mode. The Padres like his stuff and his intelligence, but felt he needed to make some alterations in his technique, especially with his stride.

“The main focus was just to make the team, but it was also about making strides in my pitching,” said Ross, meaning no pun. “I’m much better today than I was when I came into camp on Feb. 1.”

Ross’ ability to make those changes – and make them work for a stretch of 15 1/3 scoreless innings in the dry air of the Cactus League – figured mightily into the team’s decision to put him in the starting rotation.

“With what he’s gone through, I don’t think there are a lot of overall quick fixes,” said manager Bud Black. “He’s got to stay on top of things, stay on top of stride length, stay on top of the entire leg kick, stay convicted to his fastball grips, continue to control the running game a little better.

“He’s not a finished product. He’s still growing, putting it together.”

Mad skills

The left thumb, to be X-rayed again when the Padres return to San Diego from this season-opening road trip, is still protected by a small splint and tape. Chase Headley continues to take warm-up grounders at third base with a left-handed first baseman’s mitt, but now he’s also taking one-handed swings in the cage, anything to get ready for a projected return in the next couple weeks or a month.

“Watch this,” said Headley. “This is the hardest thing I have to do.”

He placed a shoe on a chair a proceeded to tie the laces. More impressively, he switched feet and was actually able to make a loop without using the damaged thumb. Near-perfect bunny ears.

Inasmuch as Headley said on Opening Day that he dreaded watching games from the bench, expecting it to drive him nuts to not be on the field, he said Friday he was thankful to be included on the trip.

“One thing I’ve learned that you can learn a lot by watching,” said Headley. “I find myself talking more baseball with teammates, 100 percent. I don’t want to say you’re selfish when you’re playing, but you’re worrying about doing your job. It’s hard to do everybody else’s job; you gotta do your job, and you gotta do it well.

“When you’re not playing, though, you can sit back and ewatch other guys a little bit more than you did when you;’re playing. You can see things in others, things I can relate to in the way I do my job, but you’re also talking more to guys. You can pick things up better than when you’re in the game and things start spinning

up.”

Etc.

• Making his major league debut in New York on Monday, infielder Jedd Gyorko was the only Padres player to get a hit in all three games against the Mets. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Gyorko is the third rookie in Padres history to hit safely in each of the team's first three games of a season. The others: Juan Bonilla (1981) and Benito Santiago (1987).

• In pre-game ceremonies that celebrated the Rockies' 20th anniversary, they brought out several members of the original club of 1993. Among them was Andy Ashby -- who went on to pitch for the Padres' pennant-winning team of 1998 -- and current San Diego bullpen coach Willie Blair.

• Here's a bit of an oddity. Jason Marquis, who pitched for the Rockies, is one of five active pitchers with at least five career homers. None of them came at Coors Field.

• The Padres timed their first visit to Denver well. Temperature at first pitch Friday was 70 degrees. A couple days after they leave Sunday, Colorado's expecting a major snowstorm.